Button-attaching machine.



No. 679,444. I Patenten my so, 190|. .L n. vmrou. 4 BUTTUN ATTAGHIIIGIAGI'UNE.

(Appumien ma nu. no; i901.)

7044 C Y 617- Il (No Model.)

MTHEEEE: CL. M@

un. 679,444. Patented 1u|y so, |901. .|.-H. vmToN. BUTTUNATTAGHINGMAGHINE.

(Application led Mgr. 20, 1901.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

MIMI/MMU l IIUIIIII Nn., 679,444. Patented luly 30, I90l. J. `H. VINTN.

BUTTUN ATTACHING MACHINE.

A (Application filed Mar. 20, 1901.)

(N u M o d el.)

v: wonms Parana 0o vnomujmn.. WASHINGTON. n.5,

No. 679,444. Patentad luly 30, I90I.

. J. H. VINTO".

BUTTON ATTllGlv-IINH MACHINE.

(Application led Har; 20, 1901.) (No lodei.) 6 Sheets-Shent 6.

Ilmlmmm -nuuw Hillllllllll NrTn STaTns PATENT Orricn.

JOHN Il. VINTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT AMORY, OFSAME PLACE.

BUTTON-ATTACHING MACHINE.

SPECXFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,444, dated July 30,1901. Application filed March 2G, 1901.` Serial No. 52.052. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may cm2/cern:

Be it known that l, JOHN H. VINTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines forAttaching Buttons to Clothing by Wire Fasteners, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a convenient, cheap, andpractical machine for attaching buttons to clothing and the like bymeans of wire fasteners, and is in certain features, notably theclenching-die and springpressed button-holder, substantially the same inconstruction and operation as the two inventions for which I have madeapplication for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial Nos. 43,923and 43,924.

The invention consists in mechanism for removing the lowermost buttonfrom a column of buttons and carrying said button toa buttonholder inreadiness to be attached to fabric.

The invention further consists in mechanism for locating said buttonwiththe holes in proper relation to the fastener, the legs of which areto be driven through said holes.

The invention still further consists in the combination and arrangementof parts set forth in the following specification, and particularlypointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvedmachine for attaching buttons to garments. Fig. 2 is a view similar toFig. 1, with the button-tube removed therefrom, the supporting-arm forsaid tube being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken online 3 3, Fig. 1, looking toward the right in said ligure, the partsbeing shown in the positions assumed when the treadle is lowered. Fig. 4is a vertical section taken on line et at, Fig. 3, looking toward theleft in said figure or in the same direction as in Figs. 1 and 2, theparts being shown in the relative positions assumed when the treadle israised, as in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail plan viewsshowing the rocking locator and button-carrying arm in differentpositions with relation to each other, the button-holder being shown indotted lines. Fig. Sis a detail section taken on line 8 8,

Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of the button-carrying arm. Fig. 10is a detail plan and side elevation of the spring-latch. Fig. 1l is arear elevation ot' the button-holder. Fig. 12 is anunderneath plan ofsaid buttonholder. Fig. 13 is a side elevation and underneath plan ofthe die for turning over the prongs of the fastener. Fig. 14 is a detailsection taken on line 14 14, Fig. 4. Fig. 15 is a perspective view ofthe Wire fastener, by means of which the button is attached to thefabric. Fig. 16 is an enlarged plan View of a button, showing the sameattached to a portion of fabric bya fastener. Fig. 17is a section takenon line 17 17 of Fig. 16. Fig. 18 is a plan view of the rockingbutton-locator. Fig. 19 is a side elevation of said button-locator.

Like letters and numerals refer to like parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

In the drawings, 2O is the frame ofa machine adapted to be fastened byscrews to the top of a table or bench and having a treadle of suitabledesign and construction connected to the machine by a treadle-rod 21.The treadlerod 21 is pivotally connected by a pin 22 to a rock-lever 23.The rock-lever 23 rocks upon a stationary shaft 24, fast to the frame 2Oby a set-screw 25. The short arm 26 of the rocklever 23 is connecte-d bya link 27 to the lower end of a reciprocatory plunger 28, having ananvil 29 fast thereto by a screw 30 and eX- tending upwardly from saidplunger through a chamber 31 and guide-passage 32 in the fastener-holder 33. Said guide-passage and anvil are of the same outline incross-section, said outline being the same as the outline of the S-head34 of the fastener 35 and consisting of two semicircular arcs 36 36,arranged upon opposite sides of a median line and connected together bystraight gnide-walls 37 37, Fig. 14.

The fastener-holder extends downwardly from the top of the anvil,encircles the reciprocatory plunger 28, and has a slot 3S therein toreceive the head of the screw 30. A spiral spring 39 encircles the anvil29, one end of said spiral spring bearing against the upper end of theplunger 28 and the upper end of said spiral spring bearing against ashoulder 40 in the fastener-holder 33.

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The clenching-die 41 is fastened to an arm 42 by a set-screw 43. The arm42 is fast toa stud 44, said stud being in turn fast to a boss 45 uponthe frame of the machine. The clenching-die 41, Fig. 13, consists of acylindrical block of steel, having a head portion 46 and a shank portion47. The head portion 46 of said die is conveXly curved upon theunderside thereof and hasa fiange48 thereon, which is formed to fit inthe chamber 49 in the spring-pressed button-holder 50. The shank 47 isencircled by a spiral spring 51, one end of which bears against theflange 48 and the other against the shoulder 52 in said buttonholder.The button-holder is adapted to slide lengthwise upon the shank of theclenching-die 41v in a direction at right angles to the face of said dieand is prevented from turning upon said shank, and thus changing itslocation with relation thereto in Ja plane parallel to the face thereof,by a tongue 53 upon a collar 54, which projects into and fits an arch 55on said button-holder.

It will be seen that the action of the spring 51 is to hold thebutton-holder 50 up against the collar 54, said collar being pinned tothe die -shank 47, with its upper face resting against the under side ofthe arm 42. The die-shank 47 is shouldered at 56, and said shouldersrest against the under side of the arm 42.

In the under face of the head portion 46 of the clenching-die 41 are twogrooves 57, parallel to each other and standing at forty-five degrees tothe longitudinal median line a of the machine, said grooves being forthe purpose of turning over and clenching the legs of the fastener 35.In order to set the grooves 57 at forty-five degrees with thelongitudinal median line a, the top of the shank portion 47 has a notch58 cut across to the center thereof, leaving a straight face 59 thereon,which stands at an angle of forty-five degrees with thegrooves 57 and atright angles to said median line d. A plate 60, fast to the arm 42 by ascrew 61 and a dowel-pin, (not shown,) bears against the face 59 andlines it up, so that the grooves 57 are necessarily set correctly atforty-five degrees to the median line a.

The spring-pressed button-holder 50 has a curved slot 62 in the lowerend thereof to receive a button 63. Said slot extends across the underface of said button-holder and has two side walls 64 struck on a curvedescribed from the center of the stud 44 when said button-holder is inthe position shown in Fig. 7. Each of the side walls 64 has a groove 65therein to receive the rim 66 of the button 63, said grooves being alsostruck from that the button shall be placed in the `holder 50 with theholes 6?67 exactly on the median line a of the machine, so that when thelegs of the fastener are forced through the fabric 69, to which thebutton is fastened, said legs shall register with the holes 67 in thebutton and pass through said holes to be turned over and back by thegrooves 57 in the die 4l. To accomplish this, I provide a rockingbutton-locator 70. The button-locator 70 has a handle 7l and acylindrical segmental hub 72 thereon. Said segmental hub 72 has a recess7 3 therein to receive the rim of the loutton 63 and two vertical pins74, fast thereto, extending upwardly from the bottom of said recess andadapted to engage two of the diagonally-opposite holes in the button 63.The button-locator 70 has a cylindrical flange 75 thereon, formed to fitthe corresponding recess 76 in the button-carrier arm 77 and attached tosaid arm by a shouldered screw 78, screwed into said locator andarranged to rock in said carrier-arm. The flange 79, surrounding therecess 76 is slotted at 8O to allow the buttonlocator to rock in saidrecess 7 6. The carrierarln 77 has a hub 81 integral therewith andarranged to rock upon the stud 44. Said hub has a lug S2 thereon, whichengages a stoppin 83, fast to a flange 84 upon the stud 44 when thecarrier-arm is in the position shown in Fig. 5, and engages anotherstop-pin S5 when the carrier-arm is in the position shown in Fig. 7. Thehub 8l is surrounded by a spiral torsional spring 96, one end thereoffast to the arm 42 and the other to a pin 86, fast to said hub.Aspring-latch 87 is pivotally attached to the carrier-arm 77 by ashouldered screw SS. Said latch has a stop-lug S9 projecting downwardlytherefrom and held against the carrier-arm 77 by a torsional spiralspring 90, one end thereof bearing against a pin 91 upon saidcarrier-arm and the other end bearing against a pin 92 upon said latch.The outer end of the latch S7 is beveled off at 93 for a purposehereinafter described.

The buttons used in the machine are contained in a tube 94, said tubebeing supported in a spring-clamped bracket 95, fast by a nut to theupper end of the stud 44.

The operation of the machine as a whole is IOO IIO

as follows: Assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Figs. 1,2, and 5, the tube 94, containing a column of buttons and the rockinglocator and carrier-arm beneath said tube, the operator first places afastener in the guide-passage 32 of the fastener-holder 33. He thentakes the button-locator 70 by the handle 7l and rocks the saine,drawing it toward him from the position shown. in Fig. 5 to that shownin Fig. 6. This rocking inotion carries the pins 74, together with thebutton-locator, through a quarter-rotation from the position shown inFig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6, the carrier-arm being held in the sameposition in both of said figures by the spiral torsional spring 96. Thepins 74 during this quarter-rotation of the buttonlocator Iind two ofthe diagonally-opposite holes in the lowermost button in the buttontubeQ4, and as soon as the handle 71 of said locator has traveled the extentof the slot- 80 in the lange '79 the side of said handle will abutagainst the end of the slot 80, as shown in Fig. 6, and said locator'and carrier-arm will then rock as one piece upon the stud ai, overcomingthe tension of the spiral spring 96 and carrying the lowermost buttonfrom the tube 9i with them. As the carrier-arm and button-locator arethus rocked upon the stud 4i, the incline 9S upon the spring-latch 87abuts against an incline 97 on the buttonholder 50, and a furtherrotation of said carrior-arm and button-locator forces the button-holder50 downwardly against the action of the spiral spring 5l, bringing thegrooves in said button-locator downward into line with the projectingrim 66 of the button 63. When the button-locator and carrier-arm havearrived at the position shown in Fig. 7, the latch 87 passes by theflange 9S upon the rear side of said button-holder, and arrivingopposite the notch 99, where said iiange is cut away, the spiral spring51 forces said buttonholder upwardly, removing the button 63 from thebutton-locator 70. IVhile the earrierarm has been rocked from theposition shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 7 the buttons in the tube94 are prevented from falling out of said tube upon the door byasegmental plate l00,in tegral with said carrier-ar1n and extendingbeneath the tube 94, formed upon an arc of a circle described from thecenter of the stud 44. The operator now releases the handle 7l and thespiral spring 96 carries the carrier-arm back from the position shown inFig. 7 to that shown in Fig. 6, the buttonlocator still maintaining thesame relation to said carrier-armin which it is shown in Fig. 7. Theoperator next rocks the button-locator upon the carrier-arm 7 7 by meansof the handle 71 into the position shown in Fig. 5. In order to morefully explain the action of the buttonlocator and carrier-arm, it willbe seen that when the operator first starts to carry a button from thebutton-tube to the button-holder the parts are in the position shown inFig. 5. The operator rocks the button-locator upon the carrier-arm bymeans of the handle 71 until said handle arrives at the end of the slotin the carrier-arm, said carrier-arm meanwhile having been keptstationary by the spiral spring 96; but as soon as the handle arrives atthe end of the slot in the carrier-arm said carrier-arm, button-locator,and handle move as one piece, rocking upon the stud 44E until the centerof the button cornes in line with the center of the button-holder, asset forth. New when the operator releases the handle 71 the position ofsaid handle with relation to the button-carrier will be as shown in Fig.7 and the torsional 'spiral spring 96 Will carry the button-carrierandthe button-locator back to the position shown in Fig. 6. Before theoperator again swings the carrier-arm around to the button-holder inorder to carry another button to the said button-holder from the columnof buttons in the tube he pushes the handle 71 from the position shownin Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 5, and then repeats the operationhereinbefore described. Upon its return motion and during the rst partthereof the rear face 101 of the spring-latch 87 abuts against thevertical wall 102 of the notch 99 upon the flange 0S and is rocked uponthe pivotal screw 8S, allowing said arm to be carried back, ashereinbelore described, to the position shown in Fig. 6. It Will benoted that when the carrier-arm is moved, as hereinbefore described,from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 7 thelatch operates to lower the button-holder, being prevented from rotatingupon its pivot 88 by the stop-lug 89, and when the carrierarm returns,upon being released by the operator, from the position shown in Fig. '7to that shown in Fig. 6 the rear face 101 of the spring-latch S7encounters the stationary vertical Wall 102 upon the button-holder andswings upon its pivot 88, allowing the latch to pass by thebutton-holder Without moving said button-holder. The button now being inposition in the button-holder and the fastener in the fastener-holder,the operator places the fabric 69 upon the top of the fastener-holder 33and operates the treadle to depress the treadle-rod 2l, rocking thelever 23 upon the stationary shaft 24:, and through the short arm 26 ofsaid lever and the link 27 raising the plunger 2S and fastener-holder33, together with the fabric resting on top of said fastener-holder,until said fabric is brought against the back face of the button held insaid button-holder, whereupon the fastenerholder rests in the anvil 20,is carried upwardly, forcing the fastener out of the guidepassage 32,driving the legs 103 through the fabric 69, through the holes 67 in thebutton, andinto the grooves 57 upon the die 4l, thence along saidgrooves and back through the holes 68 in said button, finally clenchingthe points of said legs against the S-head of said fastener, as shown inFigs. 10 and 17. Upon releasing the treadle the parts of the machineassume the relative positions shown in Fig. 1, and the operator thenremoves the button from the button-holder by pushing said button-holderdownwardly `by means of the handle 104: thereon untilthe legs of thefastener are clear of the grooves 57 in the clenching-die, and thendrawing thebutton outofthe grooves 65 in said button-holder by means ofthe fabric 60.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, .is-

l. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners,apivoted buttoncarrying arm, a button-locator carried by said arm, andahandle fast to said button-locator by means of which said locator isrocked upon said button-carrying arm.

2. In a machine for attaching buttons to IOO IIO

garments by Wire fasteners, a pivoted buttoncarrying arm, abutton-locator carried by said arm, a handle fast to said button-locatorby means of which said locator is rocked upon said button-carrying arm,and means to limit the extent of said rocking movement with relation tosaid carrier-arms.

3. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by Wire fasteners, apivoted buttoncarrying arm, a button-locator carried by said arm, and ahandle fast to said button-locator by means of which said locator isrocked upon said button-carrying arm and said buttoncarrier arm isrocked upon its pivot.

4. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners, apivoted buttoncarrying arm, a button-locator carried by said arm, ahandle fast to said buttonelocator by means of which said locator isrocked upon said button-carrying arm, and a spring arranged to hold saidcarrier-arm stationary during said rocking movement.

5. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by Wire fasteners, apivoted buttoncarrying arm, a button-locator carried by said arm, ahandle fast to said button-locator by means of which said locator isrocked upon said button-carrying arm and said buttoncarrier arm isrocked upon its pivot, means to limit the extent of the rocking movementof said locator with relation to said arm, and a spring arranged to holdsaid carrier-arm stationary during said rocking movement of thebutton-locator and to move said carrierarm in the opposite direction tothat in which it is moved by means of said button-locator handle.

6. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners, apivoted buttoncarrier arm, a button-locator having a recess therein toreceive a button, said locator carried by said arm and arranged to rockthereon, and a handle fast to said button-locator and arranged to travelin a slot in said carrier-arm. v

7. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by Wire fasteners, apivoted buttoncarrier arm, a button-locator having a recess therein toreceive a button, said locator carried by said arm and arranged to rockthereon, a spring arranged to hold said carrier-arm stationary duringsaid rocking movement, and a handle fast to said button-locator andarranged to travel in a slot in said carrierarm.

8. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners, aclenching-die, a button-holder, a spring acting to press a button heldby said button-holder against the face of said clenching-die, abutton-carrier, and mechanism actuated by said button-car'- rier todepress said button-holder against the action of said spring in order toinsert a button carried by said button-carrier.

9. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners, aclenching-die, a button-holder, a spring acting to press a button heldby said button-holder against the face of said clenching-die, abutton-carrier, mechanism actuated by said button-carrier to depresssaid button-holder against the action of said spring in order to receivea button carried by said button-carrier, and mechanism to release saidbutton-holder, whereby the button carried by said button-carrier isremoved therefrom by said button-holder.

10. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners, aclenching-die having a cylindrical shank and a flange adjacent to theworking face thereof, a buttonholder encircling said shank and ange andadapted to move lengthwise thereof, a charnber in said holder, a springin said chamber one end bearing against said flange and the otheragainst said holder and acting to press a button held by said holderagainst the face of said die, a button-carrier, and mechanism actuatedby said carrier to depress said button-holder against the action of saidspring in order to receive a button carried by said button-carrier.

ll. In a machine for attaching buttons to garments by wire fasteners, aclenching-die having a cylindrical shank and a ange adjacent to theworking face thereof, a buttonholder encircling said shank and iiangeand adapted to move lengthwise thereof, a chamber in said holder, aspring in said chamber one end bearing against said ange and the otheragainst said holder and acting to press a button held by said holderagainst the face of said die, a button-carrier, mechanism actuated bysaid carrier to depress said buttonholder against the action of saidspring in` order to receive a button carried by said button-carrier, andmechanism to release said button-holder, whereby the button carried bysaid carrier is removed therefrom by said button-holder.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN I-I. VINTON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDINe, GEORGE A. TAEBELL.

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